Love is a losing game: part three
by MoxieChick
Summary: Benny is concerned over Swank's new gal and decides to take matters into his own hands, but Moxie's got plans of her own for Benny. Rated M for language and violence. F Courier/Swank.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Final part, Moxie finally gets to confront Benny. Please review.

"Going down to the Aces with me Benny? My gal's going to audition for Tommy." Swank finished combing his hair and turned to see Benny giving him a crooked grin.

"She swinging?"

"Benny…she's the Tops." Swank sighed. "Broad just walked in and in ten minutes she was on her way to see Tommy and I was out a hundred caps so she could buy a new dress for our date." He shook his head, a smile playing the edges of his lips.

"Sounds like a ring a ding broad Swank, but I've got a casino to run." Benny threw his cigarette on the floor, crushing it under his foot before leaving Swank to lust after his new conquest, though it seemed to Benny that his friend's new gal had an agenda of her own, he made a mental note to have the boys keep an eye on her. Shutting his suite's door behind him he took off his jacket and loosened his tie. "Yes man, we've got some work to do."

Two weeks later and Benny knew he had a problem. Though the Ace's theater was bringing them in all the way from New Reno he felt Swank's new gal had outstayed her welcome. When he wasn't running the Tops he had been holed up in his room working with Yes Man, and in the process some girlie had his staff eating right out of the palm of her hand.

Swank had spent every free moment he had either locked in his room with said broad or down in the Aces watching her croon it out for the customers. The other chairman seemed to melt like butter at the mention of this girl and his guards said she was cleaner than a nun, didn't smoke, didn't drink anything but water out of bottles and only eating food she brought in with her, said she had her own cook_. Girlie's got a setup like that she's got to be hiding something_ Benny thought. He had spent the last two days running a few errands, thinking of ways to get into the Lucky 38, and worried sick over rumors that some broad had gotten in there.

Making his way up the stairs to the Aces Theater he stopped to chat up some pussy cats getting ready to leave for the night. He was just about to make a date with a little red head when Swank came rushing through and grabbed his arm.

"Come on Benny, Moxie's about to go on."

"Sorry Baby Doll but the Ben Man's gotta run." Benny winked at the girls as he followed his friend into the theater and made their way to the front table where a waiter set down their drinks before they finished settling in their chairs. The joint was packed to the brim, men of all ages and kinds filled every spot available and were watching the stage with rapt attention. Tommy joined them, a big smile on his face.

"Swank your doll's packing the house." He laughed, patting the other man on the back before taking his seat. "First she finds me four class acts, and then she unleashes that voice of hers on me. Oh baby."

"Cool it Tommy." Swank smiled but his voice had an edge.

"Smooth Swank, smooth, was just giving your girlie a compliment." Tommy flashed his best smile before taking a swig of his drink. As the lights dimmed Benny was disturbed at how quiet it was in the room, every eye in the house was fixed on the curtain, even the bartenders were watching.

"You had plenty money nineteen twenty two…" The curtain opened and Benny froze, cigarette hanging limply from his lips.

It wasn't the voice that hit Benny like a bullet, but those deep brown eyes peering directly into his. Last time he saw them they had been wide with fear, the barrel of his gun pointing right between them.

The woman on the stage looked away as if nothing had happened and continued singing. Benny tried to get his pulse to slow and tell himself it couldn't be the same broad. Though those eyes were the same dark brown and that hair was the same golden blonde. Her forehead was covered by some side swept bangs. No telling if there was a scar hiding under there.

"You're sittin' there and wonderin' what it's all about. You ain't got no money, they will put you out. Why don't you do right, like some other men do? Get out of here and get me some money too." The woman crooned as she made her way off the stage and towards their table as she continued singing. Benny gripped Maria under the table as the singer passed behind him, but whatever he'd been expecting never came, instead the woman ran her hand along the back of Swank's shoulder and leaned down to him.

"Why don't you do right…" Her lips were just a breath away from Swank's but her eyes locked with Benny's and the fire he saw in them made him blanch, definitely the same broad. "Like some other men…" She pulled away from Swank, leaving him chasing after her lips.

"Doooo." The woman belted out the final word as she made her way back on the stage towards the curtain and gave a final sultry look around the room, sending the men in it into a round of whistling and cat calling. They threw caps, chips, and flowers as she closed the curtain behind her.

It took a few minutes for Benny to make his way through the crowd and out of the theatre, palms shaking and cold sweat on his brow. How in the hell could she have survived? He should have shot the bitch again for good measure, but damn it she had looked so young that he had felt like a fink for having to kill her in the first place. He had just wanted it over and done with. Now here he was wondering if the Kahns would be showing up next dancing on stage with Tommy. The crowd was starting to thin out, with the exception of a few stragglers by the stage door. Swank sauntered out of the theater with a smirk plastered on his face. Benny gathered himself and approached his friend as casually as he could.

"Ain't you afraid one of them tom cats is going to try and steal your doll?" He joked, but his eyes were glued to the stage door for any sign of movement.

"Nah, Mox skips out as soon as the curtain closes. I showed her the back way out so she wouldn't have to deal with them." Swank replied.

"She meeting you upstairs?" Benny made a mental note to have his men waiting for her outside in the morning. A popular singer runs into some crazed drunk fan, spurns his advances, things happen. He could skip town tonight and head for the fort, either way his hand was forced.

"Not tonight, said she was tired after her performance and was going to stay at her place." The other man sifted through his pockets and pulled out a comb, though there wasn't a hair on his head out of place he ran it through once before returning it to his pocket. "She does that from time to time. It don't bother me none though, she makes it up to me." Swank winked at Benny but paused after he really looked at his friend. "You feelin okay?"

"Yeah, I'm platinum." Benny shot back. This broad was proving to be more slippery than he expected. "I'm hittin the sack early tonight, keep the patrons happy."

"Can do boss." Swank strolled towards the front of the casino to talk with the greeters while Benny made a B line to the elevators cursing the courier under his breath.

The ride up felt like an eternity, he had a lot of planning to do before heading out. The fort wasn't his first choice of places to go with the Platinum chip, those Legion boys were slippery cats and he didn't trust anyone who used fancy talk and old world ideals to justify murdering anyone who they deemed unworthy. He prayed silently that he could talk some sense with them if he got caught sneaking into their camp.

When the elevator doors finally slid open on the thirteenth floor Benny nearly ran to his suite, throwing open his doors he started to yell out for Yes Man when an unexpected voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Hello Benny."


	2. Chapter 2

"Guess who's waking up over here." A gruff voice quipped as Benny began to come to, head throbbing.

"Real funny Boone." A female voice growled.

The room finally started to come into focus and Benny wished that the blow to the head had killed him. His hands and feet were tied to the posts of the bed and the courier wad sitting on the side of the bed drinking a bottle of nuka cola. In the corner stood a soldier with a big gun strapped to his back, thinking about it now Benny recalled seeing said soldier in the Ace's crowd. The chairman tried to think of his options for getting out of this.

"Yes Man! Cash me outta this mess!" He bellowed. That got him a smack across the face from the courier as Yes Man rolled into the bedroom, but the hailstorm of bullets Benny was expecting never came.

"Sorry Benny, but while you were out the past two days Moxie here reprogrammed me to listen to her orders only." The robot's smiling face staring at him brought little comfort to Benny.

"Another rookie mistake," The woman on the bed mocked. "Seems you've made a lot of them over the past few months, first one was forgetting to make sure I didn't still have a pulse before throwing me in that hole." She looked at him with a sneer. Whatever youth he had originally seen in her was now wiped clean and replaced with a hardened hatred that radiated off her.

"How in the hell did you get…" Then it hit him. "Oh Swank, you finky bastard." He shook his head and chuckled ruefully. "So baby doll it seems you've got in quite a bind here, literally." Benny relied on the only thing he had at his disposal, his charm. The courier did not look amused. "I'm guessing I've got a lot of explaining to do for my down right awful behavior towards you pussy cat." He tried with his best smile.

"You don't have to explain a fucking thing Benny. And the name's Moxie. It'd been nice if you asked that before you shot me, a name on my grave is the least you could've done." She sighed. "All this is just to make you feel like absolute shit before I blow your brains out. Question is how long do you wanna live?"

"I think your parents were onto something when they gave you that name, Moxie." Benny muttered. "How about one last smoke?" He sighed heavily and nodded towards his jacket, realizing belatedly that he'd been stripped to his undershirt and pants.

"Yes Man." Moxie nodded to the jacket.

"Got it boss!" The robot replied jovially as he retrieved the pack of cigarettes. Moxie took the pack away from him and pulled one out, Benny thought about biting her as she stuck it in his mouth. She gave an ironic little laugh as she pulled a familiar lighter out of her bra.

"You left one hell of a trail Benny. Jessup asked me to shove it up your ass when I found ya. Maybe we'll save that for later."

Benny was afraid to ask if she was joking or not. Instead he took a long drag on the cigarette after she lit it. Yes man took it from him so he could exhale then replaced it again. Of all the messes he had gotten himself into this one topped them all.

"You know what's really funny about all of this, Benny?" The way Moxie asked the question made Benny think he wasn't going to find the answer very funny at all. "You didn't have to do any of it. Mr. House was going to give you Vegas."

"That broad everyone saw go into the Lucky 38, that was you? Oh shit."

"Yeah. Mr. House already knew it was you. He knew from day one. You couldn't wait a few more years to be fucking king of the mountain so you acted like some attention starved teenager and fucked everything up for yourself, bravo Benny bravo."

"House tell you all this?" Benny figured he should keep her talking as long as he could, the longer she wanted to chat the longer he lived.

"He did. He seemed pretty disappointed that you went behind his back like that, figured if he had told you his plans sooner you wouldn't have gone rogue." She took another swig of the cola.

"Guess the jokes on me huh baby doll?" He finished the cigarette, letting Yes Man take it from him one final time, and figured it was worth another shot to try and talk his way out of this.

"You know we could still go through with the plan, you and me. I gotta admit you've impressed me, tracking me down and getting the jump on me like this pussy cat." Years of practice smooth talk didn't seem to have any affect on the woman in front of him. "You could use a guy like me, I know Vegas like the back of my hand. Taking Vegas would be a cake walk for us."

"No dice Benny." Moxie laughed bitterly. "I need someone I can trust at my side, and you is not it." Benny began to wonder if there was more than just cola in that bottle.

"Is that where Swank came into all of this?" It was surprisingly hard to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"Swank was a gift from Lady Luck herself. I figured I was going to have to work my ass off to get anywhere near you, but instead I get your right hand man chatting me up as soon as I walk in the door. He's got a soft spot for blondes I take it?"

"Yeah, lucky for you he does honey babe." Benny growled.

"Anyway, I set up a date with him, and offer to find some acts for Tommy and I'm already treated like royalty. Let's just say I got used to the idea. Swank… turned out to be a stand up guy so I couldn't quite bring myself to go behind his back and do in his best friend." She saw the flicker of hope on Benny's face and gave him a nasty smile. "Oh no baby, you'll still get yours. After a few dates I finally felt the need to tell Swank a little bed time story about where my scar came from. Needless to say he didn't want to believe me but the cigarette butts you left in Goodsprings, the letter your friends left with Boone's former buddy in Novac, and your lighter were enough to bring him around to my way of thinking."

"Baby Swank's a swell guy sure, but you want a real wild ride just untie the Ben man and I'll show you the Tops." He didn't feel too reassured by the way Moxie rolled her eyes. "Shooting you was just business, nothing personal." He finally muttered, feeling the sudden need to be candid.

"I know that. You weren't really supposed to shoot me, truth be told." The woman's face fell. "Another courier turned the job down when they saw my name was next on the list. They knew, I don't know how but they knew something was going to go down. If you think you're in a bad spot then you'd crap yourself if I told you what I have in mind for that bastard when I find him." She sighed.

"So if all of it's just a bad hand why dig yourself further in the hole by killing me?" Benny argued. The courier looked at him thoughtfully.

"I let you go and you'll send your bodyguards after me, or Swank, and if I'm honest with myself that would damn near kill me. Or, if you did leave it wouldn't be forever. Vegas is your town, and you'd be back for her one day." Benny realized Moxie knew his game too well at this point to let him think he had a chance in hell at winning. "When you shot me you were just killing some nameless kid who picked the wrong fucking job. Not anymore Benny."

"You been making friends Doll?" Benny sneered. "I'm sure Swank would love to hear about them."

"Oh he knows. I told you already I met up with Jessup and the Khans in Boulder City, got them out of a mess with the NCR, but it was beneficial to both parties in the end."

"Why make nice with them and not me baby?" The man on the bed adjusted himself, she sure wasn't making the last minutes of his life comfortable.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And you've made a lot of enemies Benny." She looked at the empty nuka cola bottle in her hand and then looked at Benny. He wondered for a second if she was considering breaking it over his head. Finally she set it on the bedside table and sighed.

"I've worked for every group out there except the legion. Those fucks can burn for all I care. I'm now known to the leader of every single faction in the wastes and I plan to use those relationships to my advantage. You see, House has offered me everything he was going to give you." Moxie grinned.

"And you'll do what? Run Vegas? You wouldn't last a day."

"I've taken care of Nero and Big Sal, got enough dirt on Cachino to bury him, I'm a member of the White Glove society, and I'm screwing your right hand man. I'd say I've done pretty damn well for just some courier." Moxie shot back. "I've already started shaping my Vegas. What kind of pit would you have turned it into?" She muttered.

"You're gonna burn pussy cat." Benny felt his temper rise at her last remark and strained against his bindings. Vegas was his town, his dream, and now some little bitch had risen from the grave to fuck it all up. He paused though when he saw the courier pull out Maria from her holster and admire the gun, giving an ironic smirk at the religious symbols that adorned it. Moxie turned to him and gave him a sad smile as she pressed the barrel to his forehead.

"Probably, but you first."

Benny's eyes widened a second before she pulled the trigger. Moxie didn't even blink. The mess on the bed had become a common enough sight for her ever since Victor had dragged her out of that hole. Standing up she grabbed her pack and went into the bathroom to wash up and change.

"That guy Benny was a real piece of work." Boone commented when she came back out. He had already rolled Benny's body up in the blankets and cleaned the blood off the walls.

"Yeah." Moxie held out the platinum chip and smiled. "But damn it felt good to do that." Flipping the chip she caught it and stuffed if in her pocket. "Head back to the Lucky 38. I'll be along shortly Boone."

The former soldier nodded and made his way out of the room. Moxie soon followed, making sure to lock the suite behind her. She made her way down to the lobby and found Swank at the front desk talking to one of the Chairmen who he waved off as she approached.

"Did you have your little chat with Benny?" He looked around the room to see if anyone was listening.

"Yeah. He's dead." Moxie slid her arms around Swank's waist and smiled as he gave her a quick kiss.

"Guess that makes me the boss. Ring a ding, baby."


End file.
